Author: robmin57

Yesterday was a leisurely day making our way from Galway to the seaside village of Doolin. We drove up through the Burren, 70% of Ireland’s biodiversity is found here in the Burren. I did not take pictures but instead took in the pastoral beauty of this wide open area. I would like to plan a more immersive experience here on our next visit to Ireland. History runs deep here and we only scratched the surface.

Next, we made our way to the Cliffs of Moher. It is a well known destination with the infrastructure to handle the throngs of visitors. It, along with the Burren has been designated a UNESCO Geo Park . It was one of those days that I was thankful to have a little girth to my body. The wind was howling, I mean blow you over type gusts.

Next up was Doolin, a little seaside village known for its Trad music culture. McDermott’s Pub was our destination for the evening. The food was delicious( I had the pan seared salmon on creamed leeks and Ed had Cottage Pie). The music was terrific, but the highlight of the night was experiencing an Irish hen party. These young women were respectful, joyful, and proud of their heritage. They sang Irish folk song, danced jigs, and celebrated the music with the musicians.

Our accommodation for the night was Sheedys B&B. To call it a B&B was an understatement. The bed was one I would like to recreate at home and the breakfast rivaled a 5* restaurant.

On Friday we took the ferry over to the island of Inishmore . We spent the afternoon with Thomas Faherty on his pony trap, exploring the central and western end of the island. It was a lovely way to experience the rural beauty of the island.

We enjoyed dinner at Keogh’s Pub.

A footnote: It was a windy day and the seas were rolling. As Ed said, “they were handing out puke bags like candy on the ferry” . Seriously, be prepared with whatever it takes to avoid getting sea sick.

We’ve been so busy that this is the first opportunity I have had to post. Galway has been such a fun, welcoming city. We spent 2 nights at an inn named “The Stop”. It was a convenient walk to both restaurant/bar areas which we too advantage of both evenings.

I probably wont be posting any more while we areon our way home. It is too difficult to get good cell service and quite honestly, it would be a bit boring.

We do want to thank you for following us on our journey. Its been really fun to share! So, cheers to you my fiends! We hope to see many of you all very soon!

It was our last full day of this amazing trip before we begin the long trek home. We bugged out of our “RV parking lot” campground in Moab. It had served our purpose as a base to visit Arches and the northern portion of Canyonlands, but it just didn’t feel like the place we should spend our last night in Utah. We found a National Forest campground that had no services this late in the season, but it was wonderfully private and the night sky was incredible.

We hiked in the Elephant Hill section of the south Canyonlands area on a perfect chamber of commerce day. We were able to get fairly close to the iconic Needles formation. I have to admit that during the entire hike I was keenly aware of what a special way this was to end our American Southwest Adventure. I had an overwhelming sense of gratitude.

*Grateful that we had such wonderful weather throughout our trip.

*Grateful that our country had the foresight to preserve these marvelous, unique areas for all to enjoy.

*Grateful that Ed and I both have the health and fitness to do the hikes and activities we enjoyed so much.

*Grateful we have the means to take this trip.

• *Grateful that, after nearly eight weeks without television, we are still laughing and truly enjoying each other company.

Once again, pictures just don’t depict the incredible geological features. Arches NP has over 2,000 arches both small and immense. It was very interesting to see the established arches and also view the arches in the process of forming.

We did the fun 3 mile round trip hike to Delicate Arch and back. It is an iconic image. You may recognize it as the arch on the Utah state license plate. It looks small and delicate, but when you actually reach it on the hike you realize it is quite large. Its 52 feet talk to be exact! Once you reach the top of the viewing area it was super fun to just watch everyone wanting to take it in. This wasn’t a glance and go destination. There was a plein aire artist capturing the image, people were eating their lunch up there, and others were just sitting and gazing. It was a happy place. We all need a little happy these days!

Next up we enjoyed a picnic lunch in the most unique picnic grounds ever, dining among the fins of Arches.

Today we head to the southern portion of Canyonlands. We are going to give boondocking a try!

Yesterday we spent the day exploring the upper half of Canyonlands NP and Dead Horse Point State Park.

Our first stop was a quick half mile hike to Mesa Arch. It is the widest of the arches. It framed the geological formations beyond it perfectly on a beautiful Tuesday morning.

For our next adventure, Ed had an inkling to drive the White Rim Loop in his F250. Boys will be boys, you know😉. Little did we know that it was truly driving the rim(think no barriers, no shoulders, just sheer drop off) as you descended down into the lower canyon. He quickly realized that this wasn’t working for me. Thank God, I trust Ed’s driving like no others. He made a 5 point turnaround in a slightly wider section of the dirt road and we proceeded back up the canyon wall. Luckily, there was one cliff edge that extended out beyond the road and we were able to have a true tailgate with a spectacular view!

After lunch we visited Dead Horse Point State Park. We hiked the 4 1/2 mile loop trail around the rim of the canyon. It was beautiful, though we were challenged at times on the west side to find the actual trail.

It was a busy, fun day that was capped off with a yummy dinner at Bella Thai in downtown Moab.

After a quick visit to Capital Reef NP, we got settled into a small RV park in Hanksville, Utah. It was Halloween and we had a couple hours of daylight left so we decided to go play with the goblins!

Goblin Valley State Park is another one of those otherworldly landscapes. While not as spectacular as some of the other parks we have visited, we had a lot of fun walking amongst the goblins and imagining who they looked liked!

Capital Reef was interesting, yet we both agreed we would not go out of our way to visit it.

We head to Moab today. I’s our last major stop of this most excellent adventure.